| Date: Location: Distance: Parking: Lunch: | 13 December 2017 The Deer Sanctuary 5.4 miles Deer Sanctuary, large car park The Cat and Fiddle, Into Admiral ★★★☆☆ |
When we arrived at the car park ours was the only vehicle there. It was a decidedly dull day and there had been lots of rain but “there’s no such thing as bad weather……”. However we decided to base our walk on the eighth one down on the "Wet Wether Walks" page which follows the cycle tracks. This can become a bit tedious so we branched off onto other tracks in two or three places for a bit of variety. We certainly achieved that but it made progress quite a lot slower and more tiring as we had to watch where we treading fairly carefully to avoid wet feet.
 Bratley Water |  Looking Toward Blackensford Lawn | It was one of those days where everything looks a bit damp and dreary but it was not cold and infact it was far nicer in the forest than many people imagine. |
 Walking On Water | The area around Blackensford Hill and Lawn was full of little streams running into Blackensford Brook. We were forced to wander around finding places where we could get across but it all added to our enjoyment. Even if I nearly lost one of my approach shoes a couple of times! |
It was difficult to find a suitable place to sit and as it was rather drizzly we wanted at least a little shelter. We ended up, at the most southerly part of the walk, on a log under a holly tree where we sat and considered whether anyone spotting us there would think we were totally bonkers! On the other hand they would have no idea how much fun we were having. We were warmed by two small glasses of anisette licor in addition to the normal soup, coffee, chocolate etc.
| Just past Burley Rails Cottage we spotted a large herd of deer and I wished I was carrying a camera with a higher zoom than 3x |  Distant Deer |
Our excursion off the cycle track just beefier North Oakley Inclosure convinced us to make that the last before approaching the car park. It was a short but very soggy diversion.
We stopped at the Cat and Fiddle for lunch where we had to ask for there “Early Bird” menu which had been displaced by the Christmas Specials. The tea is still served at a dismal temperature but the lunch was otherwise very good value.
We stopped at the Cat and Fiddle for lunch where we had to ask for there “Early Bird” menu which had been displaced by the Christmas Specials. The tea is still served at a dismal temperature but the lunch was otherwise very good value.
RSS Feed